The sky was thick with dark, roiling clouds as Taiyou rejoined Eli and Aira, both looking battered but alive. They sat amid the ruins of a nearby structure, the ash and dust swirling around them as the landscape of Ashenfall continued to degrade, its time all but depleted. The air felt thick with impending doom, the energy of the decaying world pressing down on them like a weight.
Eli looked up, her ice-blue eyes clouded with worry. "I saw… that massive phoenix-shaped lightning strike. Was that Daichi's doing?" Her voice was low, touched with an unspoken fear as she tried to make sense of what was happening around them.
Taiyou nodded, his jaw clenched. "Yes. I could feel it too. Whatever happened, they gave everything they had." He glanced out over the ruined horizon, concern etched into his expression. "But I haven't seen them since. We're in the heart of this… chaos, and I don't know if they were able to take Valanor down."
Aira placed a hand on Taiyou's shoulder, her voice soft but filled with worry. "Ryojin's been separated from us too. We don't know what he's up against." She glanced at the ruins, the silence almost deafening. "This place… it feels like it's on the edge of collapse. If Ryojin's facing Valanor's right hand man alone…"
Taiyou clenched his fist, the frustration clear. "I know. But if that phoenix attack was anything to go by, Daichi and Kaizen wouldn't have gone down easily. They'd have—"
A powerful gust of wind ripped through the silence, stirring ash and dust into a swirling storm. Taiyou and the others spun around, and there, stepping through the smoky haze, was Valanor. His dark armor was scorched, and his skin bore traces of Daichi's lightning burns and Kaizen's aether-infused strikes, but he stood tall and unbroken. Over each shoulder, he carried the limp forms of Daichi and Kaizen, their bodies bloodied and battered beyond recognition.
Taiyou's heart clenched as Valanor smirked and dropped them unceremoniously onto the ground at his feet, their bodies lifeless and broken. Daichi's chest had a gaping, seared wound, and Kaizen's arm hung at an unnatural angle, his blood darkening the ground.
Without a thought, Taiyou lunged at Valanor, his fists blazing with white flame. But Valanor's hand shot up, catching Taiyou's fist effortlessly. Taiyou pushed forward with all his strength, but Valanor didn't even flinch. With a smirk, he twisted Taiyou's arm back, forcing him down, and with a brutal kick to the chest, sent Taiyou sprawling backward.
Taiyou gasped as six metal rods, each glistening with the dark glow of chaos energy, materialized in Valanor's hand. Moving swiftly, he drove each one into Taiyou's limbs and torso, pinning him down as the chaos energy burned through his veins. Pain surged through Taiyou, and his white flames flickered, struggling against the power binding him.
Eli and Aira acted immediately, rushing forward to attack, but Valanor met them with a quick, deadly precision. With a single hand, he deflected Eli's ice-laden punch, grabbing her wrist and throwing her aside with enough force to make her cry out as she hit the ground. At the same moment, he lashed out with a kick to Aira's ribs, sending her crashing backward.
Valanor turned to Taiyou, his voice dripping with disdain. "You think you're strong, don't you? Some foolish moral code and bravery? It didn't save them," he sneered, gesturing to Daichi and Kaizen's bodies. "And it won't save you."
He seized Eli, lifting her by the arm. Her eyes widened with terror as he tightened his grip, and the sickening sound of bones snapping filled the air. Eli screamed, pain contorting her face, as Valanor's hand moved methodically down her body, breaking bone after bone. Her cries tore at Taiyou's heart, and he thrashed against the rods holding him down, desperation flooding his veins.
"Stop!" Taiyou shouted, his voice breaking as he struggled to free himself. But Valanor ignored him, his expression twisted with sadistic pleasure as he pinned Taiyou down with his boot and continued his torment of Eli.
"How could any human think they could stand up to someone like me? I wield chaos itself," Valanor taunted, his tone dripping with scorn. He pressed his foot harder on Taiyou's head, forcing him to watch. "You're nothing, just like them."
Taiyou's vision blurred with anger and rage, fury and helplessness surging through him as he watched Eli's body go limp, her cries fading as her strength waned. Suddenly, a small rock sailed through the air, striking Valanor on the shoulder. He turned, eyes narrowing, to see the young girl—the elder sister of the little boy —standing with another rock clutched in her hand.
Valanor's expression darkened. In a heartbeat, he crossed the distance between them, his hand wrapping around her neck. "You dare?" he hissed. Her eyes filled with terror, but she met his gaze defiantly, refusing to back down even as his grip tightened. He lifted her, fingers digging into her skin, her legs kicking frantically as she tried to break free. Taiyou struggled against his bindings, helpless as Valanor began to break her bones one by one, her screams filling the air.
While Valanor was occupied, her little brother crept up to Taiyou's side, his small hands trembling as he grasped one of the chaos-imbued rods. The rod seared his skin, darkening it with burns and causing his arm to blister and rot where it touched, but he didn't let go. Tears ran down his face, not from the pain but from desperation, watching his sister suffer.
"Please… save her," the boy whispered, his voice breaking as he continued to pull at the rod, ignoring Taiyou's attempts to tell him to stop. "Save… everyone. Save Ashenfall." He then sprinkled some of the dust that ryojin sprinkled on taiyou when they first met on him, some of his wounds closed up but not all, barely half of his wounds healed but it would give him enough strength for the time being
Finally, with a shudder, the last rod came free, and Taiyou felt the chaos energy binding him dissipate. His limbs ached, but fury burned through the pain as he rose to his feet, his white flames igniting with a fierce intensity.
Valanor, his hand raised to deal the final blow to the girl, sensed Taiyou's approach only a second too late. Taiyou blurred forward, catching Valanor's arm mid-swing and blocking the strike aimed at the girl. Valanor's eyes widened, and for the first time, a hint of shock crossed his face.
Taiyou's voice was low, vibrating with barely contained rage. "It's over, Valanor. You're not hurting anyone else." He cast a brief glance over his shoulder at the others, his expression softening just a fraction as he nodded to them. "Leave the rest to me."
He turned back to Valanor, his white flames blazing brighter than ever, casting a radiant glow across the bleak landscape. "I'm going to kick your ass. Once and for all."
Inwardly, Taiyou weighed the risk of fighting here, surrounded by his friends and the innocent people who weren't completely dead yet. The battle would devastate everything in its path, and he couldn't allow anyone else to get hurt.
He steadied himself, taking a deep breath and reaching deep within, tapping into a reserve of strength he hadn't known he possessed. A surge of energy pulsed through him, and with a forceful release, he unleashed a wave of power that pushed Valanor back just enough to create some distance. In a swift motion, he channeled all his aether into his legs, enhancing his physical abilities with a burst of hush aether.
White flames erupted from his feet as he launched forward, grabbing Valanor tightly.
"We'll finish this somewhere else," Taiyou declared, his voice calm but resolute.
"How dare you, filthy human?" Valanor snarled, striking Taiyou's back repeatedly in a furious attempt to break free, but Taiyou held firm, his grip unyielding.
In a single jump he covered 500,000 meters, carrying both himself and Valanor out of the ruined town and toward a barren wasteland, devoid of life and far from the others. The clouds above swirled, darkness consuming the horizon as they neared the place where the fabric of Ashenfall seemed to be unraveling. The ground cracked beneath their feet, and molten lava began to bubble up through the fissures, painting the sky in shades of red and orange. Volcanic smoke rose, filling the air with heat and sulfur, while distant lightning forked through the clouds in jagged streaks.
From a distance, Ryojin caught sight of the scene unfolding. He caught a glimpse of Taiyou and Valanor while they were in mid air before they landed in the barren wasteland. His heart tightened as he realized Kaizen and Daichi had fallen. Now, Taiyou was about to face Valanor alone, a fight that Ryojin knew might cost Taiyou everything. Without a second thought, Ryojin got up, his focus locked on reaching Taiyou in time.
Taiyou and Valanor stood facing each other, alone in a world that seemed to teeter on the edge of oblivion. The ground trembled, cracks spreading like spider webs, and geysers of steam erupted from deep within the earth. It was a scene out of a nightmare—volcanoes in the distance spewing fire and ash, the air thick with the scent of decay, and the ocean churning, waves crashing violently along the shoreline.
Valanor's face twisted into a savage grin, his bloodstained armor and scorched skin only adding to his imposing figure. "So, you're ready to die?" he taunted, his voice cold and mocking.
Taiyou clenched his fists, his white flames beginning to flicker around him, their glow casting an eerie light over his determined face. He knew he was outmatched, that he might not survive this. But the fury and loss in his heart burned hotter than his fear. His friends, his mission, the lives of those who had suffered—he'd carry all of it into this fight.
"Even if it costs me everything," Taiyou muttered to himself, eyes narrowing. "I'm bringing you down."
Hidden a safe distance away, the young boy crouched behind a fallen boulder, his small frame trembling as he watched the confrontation unfold. His heart raced, but his eyes were glued to Taiyou, captivated by the bravery of the warrior willing to sacrifice everything to protect him and his sister.